Universal D.O.G, Lahr, Germany28th March 2009
29th Dark Dance Treffen: Diary of Dreams, De/Vision, Din[A]Tod
Into the Southwest of Germany to Lahr we travelled this weekend to attend Europe’s biggest Indoor festival, the Dark Dance Treffen (DDT). After a longer journey we entered the already well-filled and lovely decorated club Universal D.O.G and a free glass of champagne got us into the right mood for a great evening.
After they had played in several other bands, Sven Clausen and Claudia Fasold decided to work as a duo because they were tired of smelly rehearsal rooms and people interfering with their musical preferences. The first release of the project DIN [A] TOD was the ‘Living Dead EP’ in 2005 which was released on a 10” Picture Vinyl Disc. The title track became a scene-wide hit in the clubs. Over two years and lots of hard work later, they could finally present their first full time album ‘The Sound of Crash’ and all the hard work paid off as both fans and press loved their uncommon music style in combination with the damn cool vocals and on the Out of Line Festival Tour taking place in November 2007, they also performed the material live in several German cities. In the meantime they’ve already released their second album ‘Westwerk’ DIN [A] TOD is Sven Clausen (vocals, guitar, construction), Claudia Fasold (synths, vocals, construction) and Phelix Schneefeld (synths, sounds, construction), while latter one did not join the group during the DDT show. http://www.dinatod.de/ / http://www.myspace.com/dinatod
Music & Performance
In front of the stage already many imaginable dressed people were waiting for the first act of the evening, DIN[A]TOD. Sven Clausen and Claudia Fasold founded the band with the cryptic name in 2003. Recently their already second album ‘Westwerk’ has been released, which gained much positive reception just like its predecessor. Claudia and Sven took over the stage in cool 80s style and started their set with the new track ‘Some kind of hate’. Dark and minimalist electronic sounds flooded the club. Sven was wearing dark sun glasses placing even more emphasis on his frigid presence. The expressive vocal style and analogue sound nailed in your ears right away. The following track ‘The patron of the young’ was much more guitar-laden and blonde Claudia played the E-Bass and as opposed to the previous song had less vocal parts. Both moved only sparsely but aesthetic and fitting the reduced, electronic sounds. The full package of retro charm came with the wave-esque ‘Creation Crucifixion’ from the debut album; created in collaboration with British producer John Fryer. It visibly kicked up the mood as the song’s known to many from various samplers.
The Electro Clash number ‘Glory in the highest’ maintained the good mood. The following ‘Cold Star’ centred Claudia’s vocals. The well-known and catchy ‘Margarita’ from the debut managed to get the crowd in the first row into heavy dancing. The last song of the evening was ‘The Clockwork’ audibly influenced by the likes of THE SISTERS OF MERCY and JOY DIVISION. After I’ve already seen the duo live on last year’s M’era Luna, this evening’s performance entirely convinced me and left an enduring impression.
Setlist
1. Some kind of hate
2. Patron of the young
3. Creation crucifixion
4. Glory in the highest
5. Cold star
6. Margarita
7. The clockwork
Rating
Music: 8
Performance: 7
Sound: 8
Light: 8
Total: 7.8 / 10
De/Vision
DE/VISION is making music for almost 20 years now and belongs to the leading representatives in the synth-pop genre. Their style constantly evolved during that large time-span. First it was just ordinary synth pop, but soon they started to integrate new elements into their sound which culminated up in the release of 'Void' in 2000 which was a very unusual DE/VISION release. It was upon that time, that founding member Markus left the band. Steffen and Thomas continued with the band and returned to their old strengths wit the release of the album 'Two' in 2001. The newest album is called 'NOOB' and is the first album, where DE/VISION equally collaborated with their producers Schumann & Bach It was released in August 2007 and currently we’re all eagerly awaiting new material. DE/VISION is Steffen Keth (vocals, synths, composing), and Thomas Adam (synths, backing vocals, lyrics). http://www.devision-music.de/ / http://www.myspace.com/devisionmusic
Music & Performance
The audience changed during the rebuilding break and you could spot many fans with DE/VISION shirts. Several of them came all the way from France to see the duo. Thomas Adam & Steffen Keth currently are on extensive tour on occasion of their 20th band anniversary and showcase an all electronic set much to the likes of the fans. So they did in Lahr this evening, where the 50 minutes performance started with ‘Star-Crossed Lovers’. Steffen and Thomas obviously were in a good mood and made a likeable impression as usual. In spite of the exhausting tour and date shortly following after date, Steffen danced over the stage like spring chicken during the whole performance. Cheers and extensive applause followed after every song. The classic ‘Strange Affection’ from the 1998 release ‘Monosex’ followed on its heels. Then the poppy ‘Today’s Life’ put a spell on the masses with diversified sounds and outstanding vocals. Thomas moved to the rhythm behind his keyboard and added vocals to many passages also during the following songs. Amongst them the refreshing sounding ‘Addict’ and ‘What you Deserve’ from the last album ‘NOOB’ both blending in fluidly with the sound experience DE/VISION and both can hardly be distinguished anymore from the old classics; at least regarding the mood at concerts.
But still the audience seemed a little lethargic and so Steffen had to animate them for some action every now and then. The hits ‘I Regret’ and ‘Your Hands on my Skin’ followed, where the attendees turned out knowing pretty much every line and slowly unbent. Almost too late as ‘Flavour of the Week’ ended the regular set and after a short curtain call the duo left the stage. Cautious encore shouts sounded getting louder when o one appeared on stage. It took some minutes until Steffen and Thomas came back once more and struck up ‘Try to Forget’ everybody danced and sang along to. The beautiful ‘Still Unknown’ then closed the set for good and a warm applause accompanied Steffen and Thomas on their way off the stage. This 50 minutes-long performance only was a short cross section of the songs out of 20 years and if you get the chance, attend one of the current club concerts.
Setlist
01. Intro + Star-crossed lovers
02. Strange affection
03. Today's life
04. Addict
05. What you deserve
06. I regret
07. Your hands on my Skin
08. Flavour of the week
---
09. Try to forget
10. Still unknown
Rating
Music: 8
Performance: 8
Sound: 8
Light: 8
Total: 8 / 10
Diary of Dreams
There is no need for a detailed introduction of this band anymore. Since 1989, DIARY OF DREAMS enchants a still growing fan base all over the world with beautiful and at times fragile tunes. Already 1.5 years after ‘Nekrolog 43’, the latest album ‘(if)’ was released on 13th March 2009. In this release was going to be celebrated with this special concert today. DIARY OF DREAMS is Adrian Hates (vocals, guitar), Gaun:A (guitar), D.N.S. (drums) and Torben Wendt (keyboard). http://www.diaryofdreams.de/ / http://www.myspace.com/diaryofdreams
Music & Performance
Our reason to embark on this long journey was the headliner of the evening DIARY OF DREAMS. With their recently released new album ‘(if)’ another release concert was to follow the last one in Görlitz last weekend [we reported…]. Adrian Hates, Gaun:A, Torben Wendt and D.N.S. entered the stage and the first powerful notes of ‘The Wedding’ sounded. Due to the video presentation on MySpace it’s likely the most famous song of the new album and the mood in the club was fantastic right from the start. The whole band radiated pure joy of playing and was well-tempered. Also on this evening mostly fast, powerful and driving songs found their way into the set and so followed with ‘UnWanted?’ a song from the last album ‘Nekrolog 43’. The classic and guarantor for an exuberant mood ‘The Curse’ was next, where all the arms raised already with the first notes. The audience danced and sang along to every line. Embedded into the hits were new songs like the following ‘Choir Hotel’, starting pretty calm and evolving gradually towards the chorus to virtually explode then. Around me already many people were singing along which might be due to the especially travelled fans in the first rows. Wonderfully rousing were the passages Adrian, Gaun:A, and Torben were singing together.
Nearly all the old songs had been re-arranged in a more or less obvious way like the powerful ‘MenschFeind’ during which I always enjoy watching Gaun:A treating his E-Guitar. The wonderful light show staged every band member in turns and conjured outstanding effects during the entire show. ‘AmoK’ in its fast version also never gets boring. Just too beautiful are Adrian’s vocals and the energetic live variation. Additionally Torben’s background vocals add a very unique and special note to the song. One of my faves on ‘(if)’ is ‘Odyssey Asylum’ which was played this evening much to my likes. Adrian’s voice, Torben’s piano chords and the wonderful chorus not only impressed me, it seemed. A warm and loud applause rewarded the band after the song. The live smasher ‘Regicide’ from the bonus CD ‘G(if)t’ should be known exclusively to owners of the limited edition of ‘(if)’ up to now. The band took a little break to floor the gas pedal again thereafter with ‘Hypo)crypticK(al’ where Adrian’s aggressive vocals, mimic, and gestures attracted all the attention.
But it got even better with ‘Soul Stripper’ where the anxiously awaited drum solo by D.N.S. who’s drenched in light gained thundering applause and cheers again. After so many powerful and energetic songs you admired the work done on stage even more and (luckily) it seemed as if there was no end in sight as the first chords of the German-tongued ‘Wahn!Sinn?’ sounded. Another new song followed with ‘Poison Breed’ and the audience excellently accepted and honoured it. After ‘Chemicals’ another crowd pleaser followed with ‘Kindrom’ and Adrian let us sing the line “Can’t bring me down” alone which worked out perfectly! After the song all 4 band members left the stage. But not for long as loud clapping and shouts brought them back soon. Then D.N.S. came on stage first to hype up the audience even more before the rest of the members followed him. Another classic was coming up now with ‘Butterfly:Dance’. Adrian eagerly watched the audience until hands were stretched out towards him to loudly sing “Hello”. ‘The Plague’ already ended the first encore again and the four-piece didn’t get around a second one and so they came back for one last time for ‘Traumzänzer’. First we listened to Adrian’s wonderful vocals and a spell later it was up to the audience to sing the chorus altogether.
The band thanked everybody with happy smiles on their faces and then left the stage. Happy and bright faces revealed which huge impact the performance and especially the new songs had on everybody. The festival continued on all areas afterwards and if you were in the mood for harder, electronic sounds you could attend the shows of PHOSGORE, TWINKLE and NOISUF-X now. Furthermore there were enough bars, stalls and DJ music to party the whole night through.
Setlist
01. The Wedding
02. UnWanted?
03. The Curse
04. Choir Hotel
05. MenschFeind
06. AmoK
07. Odyssey Asylum
08. Regicide
09. Hypo)crypticK(al
10. Soul Stripper
11. Wahn!Sinn?
12. Poison Breed
13. Chemicals
14. Kindrom
---
15. ButterFly:Dance!
16. The Plague
---
17. Traumtänzer
Rating
Music: 9
Performance: 9
Sound: 9
Light: 9
Total: 9 / 10
All pictures by Daniela Vorndran (http://www.vorndranphotography.com/ / http://www.black-cat-net.de/ / www.myspace.com/vorndranphotography)
Written by Cathie Niemann, Translation & Band Intros by Sebastian Huhn
{jos_sb_discuss:18}
Comments powered by CComment